


Unexpected Events

by FredAndGeorgeForever



Series: Torchwood Bingo Fest 2020 [9]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Accidents, Aliens, F/M, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Old Friends, Post-Season/Series 02, Pre-Season/Series 03, Same Sex Relationship, Undercover Missions, janto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:55:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26627881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FredAndGeorgeForever/pseuds/FredAndGeorgeForever
Summary: An undercover mission ends worse than they expected and now they have to face the consequences
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Series: Torchwood Bingo Fest 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1891957
Kudos: 16
Collections: Torchwood Fan Fests: Bingo Fest 2020





	Unexpected Events

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is part of the Torchwood Bingo fest 2020
> 
> Author: holds up escalation card

It had been a perfectly normal day at Torchwood when Jack asked both him and Gwen to get to his office. Questionably he watched Gwen, she didn't seem to know anything about it either as her face was the picture-perfect of surprise. Walking inside they found him standing in front of his desk with paperwork in his hands. It had no sense to close the door behind them as there was no one left in the hub to overhear their conversation. Most days he really missed Tosh's brightness and Owen's wrong sense of humour. 

" I'm just going straight to the point. Ianto, Gwen, I need you two to go undercover… as a married couple." Jack said, his first thought was: no way in hell! And it seemed like Gwen was thinking along the same line.

" Don't look at me like that! I'm needed here for a case and I need someone to check out this hotel for newlyweds. People seem to go missing at that place, they're never seen again after they checked in on their romantic honeymoon. Something spooky is going on there." Jack told them. The papers had been abandoned onto the table and his hands were fidgeting while he tried to talk to them with a straight face.

" Then why couldn't you just have sent me and Rhys. I mean, we're actually married!" Gwen - almost - screamed through the room. It wasn’t like he wanted to act all lovey-dovey with Gwen, quite the contrary. He would've preferred to go with Jack, but he knew this was important so he shut up and did what he was asked.

" Because I need Torchwood, if something happens I need to know that you'll make it both back alive. I… I can't…" No tears appeared, but Jack being Jack looked certainly distressed, if not worried completely out of his mind. He took a step forward towards the man who had captured his heart and took him into a manly hug.

"I understand. Come on." He said. From his hug, he watched Gwen and gave her a pleading look. Maybe if she saw it she would understand to not distress Jack any further. Even the toughest person would break during one moment in his or her life.

" Okay. What do we need?" Gwen finally asked after a prolonged silence. Quickly he left Jack's arms and began to rummage through one of the cupboards. He knew it was somewhere around here, the fake marriage kit. It hadn't been used a lot, but it came in handy during times like these.

"Ahah!" He exclaimed when he found the small box. Opening it he found two plain wedding bands and an engagement ring. In awe he watched as Jack took two rings out of it and handed them to Gwen, then he took out the last band and took Ianto's left hand in his. Quietly he moved the wedding band up to Ianto's ring finger. His heart skipped a beat when he saw how concentrated Jack looked at him. Something akin to love, adoration, affection, he had no idea exactly what could be seen in his lovers eyes when he straightened up.

"Ughrm." Gwen - tried to - clear her throat from across the room. A blush spread across his face when he took in the situation. It had felt too much like a scene out of his own wedding.

"Okay, gather what you need at home. I'll give you the address when you're back." Jack said and disappeared back into his manhole. One look at Gwen confirmed what he already thought and followed Jack down the stairs.

\--0O0--

" It looks like a perfectly normal hotel," Gwen said from next to him. They were both holding a carry on. The magnificent building looked nothing but spectacular on first sight. It's shining windows could blind you if you weren't careful and the bright colours attracted your eye at first sight. They walked together - hand in hand - towards the door, where a door clerk opened the door for them. They thanked him and ventured into the almost empty lobby. That was when something peculiar caught his eye.

"Mary? Is that you?" He asked perplexed at the lady behind the desk. The woman looked up and indeed, it was her. It seemed like she hadn't aged a day.

"Ianto? Is that you? Oh, you've grown so much since I last saw you." Her face split into a bright smile when she ventured from behind the desk and walked towards the pair of them. She took a good look before she shook his free hand - as he was still holding Gwen with his left - enthusiastically.

" Well, it's been ten years so I might hope so yes." He said a smile of his own growing on his face.

" How've you been? Got married I see. Who's the lovely lady?" Mary asked of him, he turned his head towards Gwen - gave her a look that said: play along! - and held up their hands to show her the newly added wedding bands.

"This is Lyla, I met her on holiday a few years ago." He told her the story they had - beforehand - agreed to tell if anyone ever asked. They changed their names of course, but now that Mary worked for the questionable company he couldn't take his name anymore, so he had to quickly come up with an excuse why they had booked a room under the name Ifan and Lyla Callahan. 

To show Mary that he really loved Gwen, he held up their hands and - like a true gentleman - kissed her hand. During the play pretend he thought of Jack, how he'd feel when Jack did these things to him, how his heart had come to love the older man.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm a long lost family friend of Ianto's family." She said as a sort of introduction. Gwen smiled and nodded at the woman. She acted like she didn't want to let go of his hand in a thousand years. If he thought right, he knew for sure that she was imagining Rhys holding her hand, Rhys kissing her.

" It's nice to meet you," Gwen said sweetly.

" Alright let's get you guys checked in," Mary said and clapped her hands together in joy. She walked back towards the desk and disappeared behind the computer.

" Uhm, so Mary, there's this little thing. Our reservation is under another name. A mate of mine made the reservations and accidentally put it under his name." Ianto said as a blush started to spread across his face. He really didn't want to explain this, especially to her, but it had to happen. Confused she looked up, but in what seemed like a millisecond her expressions changed back to one full of motherly love.

" That's alright, we get that quite frequently actually, just say the name and I'll check you guys in." So he did and before he knew it they were upstairs, in a room which seemed far too, well pink. A candy cane pink colour followed him everywhere he went. Even the bathroom had pink tiles and shower curtains. A big pink heart with eyes lay on the king-sized bed staring at them. Insanely creepy. The first thing they did after closing the door was checking on bugs while saying loving words to each other and pretend like they were going to christen the bed soon. They found one bug - ironically under the bed - and moved it towards the bathroom for the time being. Trouble was, soon they would need to move it back and really pretend they were having sex because every newly wedded couple would have sex on their honeymoon, no matter their sexuality. This was going to be an awkward night.

"Alright Jack, we're in. Until now, we've seen nothing out of the ordinary." He whispered into his comlink. He watched how Gwen unpacked her suitcase.

"Keep an eye out. I'll contact you if necessary. And Ianto, I miss you." Jack exclaimed and with that closed off the line.

"Okay. Let's get some dinner, maybe we'll find out something there. Some chatty guests or something." He said before he poofed down on the bed.

\--0O0--

It was after a good night's sleep, that a weird feeling started to creep up.

"No offence Ianto, but Mary really creeps me out," Gwen told him when they went back towards their hotel room. Gwen told him exactly what he'd been thinking for a while now.

" I was just thinking along those lines. She's…. Different than I remembered her." He told her, with his pass he opened their door and after checking if no one followed them closed it firmly behind him. Gwen had taken her turn of removing the bug.

" Is it possible that she might be behind the missing people?" Gwen asked, taking out his notepad he sat down on the bed against the headboard. The only nice thing about the bed had been an extremely good mattress.

" Might be, but I still have difficulty imagining it. She's always been the goodness itself. Bit like a mother Maria person." He answered before he went to take off his shoes and laid down on the bed, arms crossed beneath his head as he watched the ceiling.

" Well you don't know Ianto, she said so herself it's been a long while since you've seen her. Who knows what might've happened to her during that time." He felt rather uncomfortable in his sweater and jeans like he was naked. Gwen joined him shortly after he'd flopped down on the bed himself, there wasn't much to do as they had to stay at the hotel as much as possible. And sex was out of the question! If Jack was here, he would've loved to spend the spare time with some mind-blowing sex. But as Jack wasn't there and Gwen was, he knew it was never going to happen. His thoughts were miles away while he thought back to the times when life seemed so much easier.

" So, now that we're alone once again, how is everything going on between you and Jack? You seemed a bit distant before we left." Gwen asked, turning on her side and watching him with her freaking doe eyes. He - in his turn - turned on his other side so he could look her in the eye, his hands disappeared under his head as he thought about his response. What to tell her?

" I'm not completely sure, we all mourn in our own way and I think Jack just can't handle it all right now. He's lost so many people already, you know, there's a moment when it all becomes too much." It was literally the only thing he could think about. Something was off, but Jack - as always - kept his feelings cropped up. It was only a matter of time before he found the immortal man trashing in his bed - spooked by nightmares - while he held him during his breakdown, just like Jack did for him.

" Do you love him?" Gwen whispered from her spot, her eyes averted from him while she waited for her answer.

" I do, how can I not? But how can I tell an immortal man I love him and expect the same back? How can I ask him to love me when he has an eternity left in front of him?"

\--0O0--

" Gwen?? Ianto??? Ianto???" Jack screamed through the hospital hallways. Panic had taken over his body ever since he'd gotten the call. He couldn't lose them. Not again. Not so soon.

"Sir! Be quiet! There are patients who need to sleep!" A stern woman in a nurse's costume told him as soon as he ran into the hallway where another nurse had pointed him towards. Room 2.12.

It had only been two days since they left for their undercover, but somehow they had managed to blow up the hotel, rescue the other people and get themselves seriously injured. On the other hand, he shouldn’t have been surprised.

"In here, Jack!" Gwen's quiet voice whispered from the door room. A soft light shone through the room so as to not disturb the other patients closeby.

The only patients in the room were Gwen and Ianto, Torchwood's orders. He feared what he was going to see, Gwen hadn't told him more than the basics of their injuries. But something told him that Ianto was far from fine. His heart was clenching as he came to a halt and turned around. His heart stopped bouncing in his ribcage as he waited with bated breath of what he was going to find. One step into the room confirmed his worst nightmare. Gwen was sitting on her bed, bumped and bruised with bandages around her body in different places. Blood had been cleaned off her face from where cuts had come anew. Her right arm was in a cast as she sat on her bed trying to smile at him as best as she could through the pain. His eyes slipped away from her form and went towards the bed across from her. Ianto. An unconscious Ianto lay on the bed across from her, multiple Machines had been attached to him and a piercing beating of his heart rang through the air. A machine that was obviously for his heart rate went up and down. The tube, in his mouth, providing him with air. Cuts and bruises could also be seen on his body as he lay there picture perfect on the bed. Not a sound heard from his mouth, not a movement seen from his muscles. Multiple casts had been put on his fragile body and a neck collar had been put around his neck. Hopefully, nothing had happened to his neck vertebrae, otherwise, Ianto wouldn't be able to do what he loved to do.

Slowly he made his way towards the younger man's side. It felt like his world just collapsed under his feet when he'd been busy trying to talk the Queen out of coming down to Cardiff. Too dangerous he'd claimed.

"What happened?" He asked under his breath. His eyes were transfixed on his mortal lover as he sat down on the empty chair next to the bed. His hand took Ianto's right hand in which an intravenous drip was put in. His ghostly pale skin stood out more in the dark than it ever had before.

"The building collapsed and he didn't want to leave until everyone else had left. He saved a lot of people. It's a miracle he's still alive actually, but the doctors said he's in a critical condition for at least the coming 24 hours." Gwen said from her bed. She wasn't allowed to leave her bed as her legs were sprained and her doctor was keeping a close eye on her. A concussion meant being woken up every, or so, hour and close attention from your doctor. He stood up and walked to the end of the bed. At the other side of Ianto’s feet, the doctor's chart stood and he took it out.

_ Severe Concussion, splintered bones, collapsed lung, several broken ribs, broken collarbone, broken cheekbones, dislocated jaw, possible injuries to the spinal cord ( has to be specified after the patient wakes up). _

Reading through the file made his heart shatter into tiny pieces. His Ianto was never going to be the same again. Quickly he put the chart back and went back to Ianto's side. It was indeed a miracle he was still alive. How he hadn't broken his neck he would never know.

"Talk me through what happened." He told through clenched teeth as he took Ianto's free hand and watched the other broken hand.

" Well it was just a few hours ago, it was 10 pm and everyone was going to bed, weirdly enough. We thought it was the perfect time to do some investigation as It was so quiet. We were on the third floor when we found some aliens kidnapping some people. They were screaming but we couldn't hear them. Somehow they silenced their voices. We tried to reach them, succeeded but got caught ourselves. They were zygons. They infiltrated the earth to kill people and sell our hearts to the Llilloga. They have some kind of medicinal healing power for the love virus as they called it. They claimed it to be a virus that makes their people fall in love with anything at all, from an animal to a plant. Some would go mad, others got cured and would live to see another day, but none were particularly happy about it. They called it the wonder medicine. That's why they wanted human hearts. We put a stop to it, demanded their leave or otherwise we would annihilate both species. Eventually, after some fighting, they left with their tails between their legs. It was the things they did just before transporting themselves to their ships that caused this." While he watched Ianto, Jack couldn't help but curse those stupid aliens who made his heart jump out of his chest. There was a big chance that Ianto wasn't going to come out of the coma he was currently in. Wasn't going to come back to their bed. Wasn't going to scold him for throwing his clothes on the ground and wouldn't be snoring beside him at night after they got home from the hub. Since when had he started calling Ianto’s flat home? Since when had his heart betrayed him and started feeling things he hadn't for a long while, not since he'd done his utmost best to close off his heart and never feel again for someone else so deeply as he'd done in the past.

" If all goes well, I might be released in the morning the doctor said. Not going to be much help though. I'm sorry to say that that isn't the case for Ianto." Gwen said from her spot. It wasn't that she'd said something he hadn't already known. But it still hurt to know the truth. He knew that Ianto was kept in a coma, he knew that the doctors had made it clear that there was a very big chance that he wouldn't come out of it. But he still hoped for the best, still hoped that his lover would survive this horrible accident. Because if he didn't, it would mean one more death, and one more death he was responsible for. If it hadn't been for him sending them off to that hotel then they would've never been here right now. Then he wouldn't have been racing towards the hospital in the middle of the night. And he wouldn't be watching his… partner… so near to death, trying to grasp every piece of straw to cling to life instead of giving in to the inevitable darkness that would be chasing him. Maybe he would be able to hear them right now, maybe he wouldn't. All in all, he never thought he'd see the day that Ianto Jones would be lying in a coma. He'd always wished for him to experience a quick and painless death when the time would come. But of course, when working for Torchwood things like that wouldn't be guaranteed.

" I'm staying here, for as long as I need to!" He declared before making himself comfortable in the really uncomfortable chair and eventually falling asleep after hours of watching over Ianto and seeing no change at all.

\--0O0--

Days had gone by like minutes. Hours had passed without any change. It had been two weeks since the whole ordeal and slowly the doctors began to give up hope. No change meant no good news. But as he saw it it was like, no change no worse ending. As long as nothing changed he could keep hope for a better ending. He hoped that Ianto would wake up. Of course, it was foolish to think that Ianto was going to be perfectly fine. He couldn’t be. He wasn’t. But hope could do stupid things with the heart and brain. It could turn you sappy, it could make you think about the life you’re living right now. It could make you want to do things you’d never done before. 

‘’Is uncle Ianto ever going to wake up?’’ David asked from next to the bed. It had been only natural to call Rhiannon the next day when he could think a little bit clearer. She’d come here as much as she could, always would she find him here. Ever since he came, he hadn’t left for more than the toilet, food or a much-needed shower. The nurses were practically dragging him away by now, always talking about taking care of his own health. It wasn’t like it mattered, he would revive anyway. But they didn’t know that. The only thing they knew was that he was a loving boyfriend, who didn’t want to leave his partners side, for one moment.

‘’He’s going to wake up, just you see.’’ He told the little boy with whom he’d become great friends in these past weeks. Rhiannon had taken the kids and Johnny with her for the second time she came to visit. He’d cared for the kids while she mourned with her husband. While he held hope, she couldn’t help but think the worst. He beckoned the boy over towards him and lifted him up his lap, next to where Mica had already taken place. 

‘’He’s going to. He must.’’ He whispered. He hugged both kids with all the love he had left in him. There was nothing they could do until things changed.

Why would anyone ever let love into their hearts when it hurt so much? Because it’s the only thing keeping us alive, of giving us acknowledgement that we aren’t alone in our lives. That we are loved and loved back. 

\--0O0--

It was four weeks after the accident that things began to change a little. His ghostly skin grew a little pinker. But nothing much.

‘’Ianto, if you can hear this, we love you. So much. I miss you, I miss your touch, I miss your smell, I miss your beautiful piercing blue eyes. I miss everything about you. How you always make me smile and how you, just by being you, made me fall in love. I never thought I would say that actually. Love. Such a stupid thing, but I do. You made me do things, experience things, that I swore to never again. How is it that you always manage to make me do such human things. I don’t know how you do it. Seriously.’’ He squeezed his hand, the only part of his body that he actually may hold.

‘’When you wake up, would you like to… you know… become my partner, for real this time. I know that’s what you always wanted. I know you better than you might think. We’re already practically moved in together anyway. But once you’re awake, and you actually know what I’m talking about. I’ll ask you to make it official. I'll even make you that disgusting jelly for the rest of your life, if only you would just wake up. Oh and by the way, Rhiannon. I don’t know if you heard, probably have, but she knows, she knows we’re a couple. Because that is what we are. She was… quite surprised actually. Not about the male part, but that you’re dating. She never thought she’d see the day that you started dating again. Quite ironically don’t you think? I know you’re hating me right now, so much. I know you’re scolding me for neglecting my duty and letting Gwen alone and injured in the hub doing all the work. Rhys is helping her at the least so that’s good. Maybe… maybe I should go. You know… work. I love you, don’t you ever doubt that. ‘’ As he kissed his mortal lover’s hand, he made the plan of leaving for a few hours. Rhiannon would be coming in anyway. And if something changed, they’d call. Or so they always promised to try and get him out. Maybe it would be good, getting a few hours of hub time. Seeing Myfanwy, holding Gwen. Doing some actual work instead of just helping through some scheduled phone calls, as he wasn’t allowed to keep his mobile on in Ianto’s room. It would disturb the medical equipment. With a sigh, he let go of Ianto’s hand and stood up. His eyes lingered on the younger man’s unconscious form. 

‘’I’ll be back, soon. Rift provided of course. You know how it is.’’ He smiled as he bowed down and pressed a kiss on top of Ianto’s forehead.

\--0O0--

‘’Good gracious. He’s back!’’ Rhys practically screamed through the air when the alarms blasted through the air and he made his way inside. The sarcasm was dripping from Rhys’s voice and Gwen turned around on her spot, the joy could be read from her face as she watched him, but a frown soon came in its place on her face.

‘’Is everything alright?’’ Panic sounded in her voice as she took in his facial expressions. Something was wrong.

‘’Nothing’s changed.’’ He told her before disappearing into his office. He could hear sighs coming from outside his office, at least they were relieved about that. About three hours later, after Rhys had gone out to get some lunch for them all, Gwen knocked on his office door. Without waiting for his reply she came in.

‘’Okay, tell me. What’s going on?’’ She asked him. She took the liberty to sit down on the empty chair in front of his desk. If he knew Gwen, and of course he did, then she would be sitting there for as long as it took for him to talk.

‘’It’s nothing, just leave it.’’ He said, hoping to throw her off and trying to finish his report.

‘’Jack, It’s never nothing with you. There’s always something going on. Just tell me, it will be easier that way.’’ Her arms were crossed and her expression stern.

He gave up.

‘’I don’t want to lose him. I just… can’t!’’ His vision became cloudy, his paperwork became nothing more than an indistinct white blur. Hands found their way towards his shoulders.

‘’It’s going to be okay, really. He’s a fighter. You know he is.’’ Gwen murmured in his ear.

‘’But what if he doesn’t…’’

‘’Don’t think like that. You’re Captain Jack Harkness. We bust aliens for a living. Of course, you’ll survive this.’’ 

‘’That’s easy for you to say, you have Rhys. You have your husband. I’m here broken beyond measure. You can’t ever know how many people I've lost, how much it hurt to lose them or how much it is going to hurt when I lose the only person who really knows me.’’ The tears were inevitable, but the pain… It hurt so much.

\--0O0--

It happened when he was almost asleep, his eyelids drooping and his head falling off of his fist - his limit of sleepless nights had been reached - when he saw it. 

The twitch of a finger. Then the whole hand. Sleep had immediately left his mind as he watched Ianto's form. This had been the most he'd been moving since he became comatose. With bated breath, he waited for something to happen, just something.

After a few minutes, Ianto's chest heaved as his lungs took a huge intake of breath. His eyes flew open and his body was full of panic. His hands flew towards his mouth where they went towards the tube in his throat. He knew how Ianto would be feeling right now. The tube created a choking sensation. His lover's eyes watered as he tried to breathe. Ianto tried to claw at the tube, firmly in place in his sore throat, to free his airway. 

" Ianto! Ianto! Slow down, deep, calm breaths. Come on, do it for me." He took the hands of his partner in his while he stood watching above his body. Ianto's piercing blue eyes watched him in fear as he tried to control his breathing. The increased heart rate had alarmed the nurses who came running into the room. Within seconds someone had dragged him away from his lover. 

Currently, he was waiting In the hallway, while he stood pacing there he'd already met plenty of doctors flooding into the room. All he wanted right now was to see the younger man, but it took hours before that wish was granted. And still, it was only for a couple of minutes as he had to be wheeled out for a couple of tests. Once again he could just feel that something was wrong, add to that parts of conversations he'd heard of nurses and doctors coming out and going into the room and you get a Jack who's secretly really afraid but will try not to show it to the rest of the world.

" Stupid question, but how are you doing?" He asked as he finally walked into the room. He tried to hide the fear beneath the mask he'd put firmly in place. There was nothing wrong with that, it was just easier that way.

" I…" Ianto’s sad face, which had once been looking towards him, was now turned towards the window. He could see the tears that had made their way down his lover's youthful face as he walked closer towards the bed.

"Ianto?" He asked and sat down on the empty space on the bed, it was just on the edge, but he managed to balance himself and not fall flat on his face. 

Ianto didn't respond, which made him worry all the more.

"Ianto, please talk to me." He said to the mortal man in front of him. Ianto's left hand went towards his face where he wiped away the stray tears and took a deep breath, just before he turned towards him.

"Promise me to not be mad, and please don't leave me." His partner pleaded with him. His sad face looked up at him and his normally dreamy eyes just turned into big pools of sadness.

" Why would I ever do that? Ianto? What is going on?" Panic had taken over his reasoning and it was all he could do not to freak out on the spot. He didn't know how, or even since when. But when it involved Ianto, he would get scared that something happened to the man he loved. It was only a prolonging as he knew that one day - probably sooner rather than later - he would have to say goodbye to his cold and lifeless body. 

" I don't feel my legs." He bombarded.

"They think I have some spinal injuries, they're going to look at it. Do some proper tests now that I'm awake. I just…" he stopped Ianto from talking by kissing his lips fervently. He knew that he shouldn't, he had only just woken up from his coma, but he couldn't help it. He'd missed those soft, plump lips of his. And he knew when Ianto would start rambling, that too.

" That's horrible, but if it's true then we're going to face this together or not at all. We're Torchwood, remember, I'm not so easily scared away." He kissed Ianto's forehead one last time before leaning their heads against one another and started staring into the blue eyes he'd been dreaming about those awful weeks.

‘’I love you!’’ he declared and began snogging him, just before Ianto could register the shock he was probably feeling right now.

‘’OI, stop snogging the patient!’’ Someone from behind them said. Abruptly he stopped and looked behind him. From the corner of his eye, he could still see how Ianto was blushing a fireman red right now.

" We need to take him away for tests now." A man, not much older than 25, said as he walked into the room. The nurses uniform meant that he'd taken over from that lovely girl. Ianto's stony, but red, face revealed nothing more than a neutral expression to others, but he knew better. He knew that Ianto hid his emotions when he felt the need, so he knew that Ianto was feeling anything but calm right now.

" I'll be here when you are done, promise!" It was all he could do before Ianto was wheeled out of the room and out of his vision. But never out of his heart.

\--0O0--

When the time came, and the doctor had given his prognosis, It was all he could do to not break down himself. This was Ianto, his Ianto. And his life just turned upside down. Everything had changed, nothing would ever stay the same. But they would deal with it. They were better than this for god’s sake. He held Ianto while he cried, while he sobbed into his chest. There were only three things he could promise, to never leave him. To be there for him for as long as he needed to, and to guarantee him that he could come back to work as soon as he came back out of the rehabilitation centre. It was all he could do. There was no miracle cure available, no way to heal his spine. 

It was at their afternoon tryst, at the spinal cord injury centre four months later, that left him speechless.

‘’Marry me.’’ He said after he left his partner's lips after a, particularly heated kiss. Shocked, Ianto looked up at him. His eyes stood full of surprise while he waited for a reaction. There wasn’t a bone in his body that thought Jack would actually say yes. Not one of them. But he was even more shocked when Jack actually did answer, not immediately of course but only a few minutes later his lips started speaking.

‘’Yes.’’ Was his simple answer. An answer he’d never expected, not that he’d expected to ask this question. It had been quite impulsive.

‘’Do… do you mean it?’’ Perplexed he watched how Jack, without an inch of doubt started smiling.

‘’I do. A while ago Gwen helped me realise something. Back when you were still in a coma. She made me realise that… I love you. And it’s going to hurt like hell when I lose you.’’ The kiss had shocked him but had been expected. When they eventually came up for air, he stared into his captain’s eyes and dreamt away in them.

‘’I wish so badly I could make love to you right now.’’ Plopped out of Ianto’s mouth. 

‘’Not now, soon, I promise. The prolonging is only going to make it better, you’ll see.’’ Jack answered him. Jack and lack of sex made him suspicious, but he trusted Jack that he didn’t cheat on him. One day Jack was going to see that he wasn't actually what he wanted, and he feared the day that would happen. How could an immortal man ever be in love with one person?

\--0O0--

Soon after Jack decided that they shouldn't wait that long. There was no day like today. Secretly he thought it was more because Jack was afraid that if he didn't do it soon, then the day would never come, which he could understand of course. So rather sooner than later they married. Only a few people were witnesses of the event, Gwen and Rhys had obviously come - she hadn't stopped talking about how she'd always known this day would come - and his sister with the kids and of course Johnny. With special permission from the centre he took a day away and was picked up by his sister. It had been a beautiful day.

\--0O0--

Luckily for them, Ianto was at the rehabilitation centre when the world turned to shit. He wouldn’t know how to have lived without his husband at his side. Together forever. For as long as they had. And personally he hoped that was pretty long indeed.


End file.
